It was a challenging day for young Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was forced to retire from the 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone after being hit by a Racing Bulls car and suffering damage to his Mercedes Formula 1 car.
The Silverstone race came to a disappointing end for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with a retirement that capped off what had already been a complicated weekend. Adverse weather conditions made the race difficult from the start, and only 15 drivers eventually managed to finish the Grand Prix.
Mercedes had to make strategic decisions based on the limited data available due to changing weather. At the start of the race, the team opted to bring in only George Russell for a tyre change, switching him to Hard compound slick tyres at the end of the formation lap. A few laps later, hoping that the track would dry more quickly, the team decided to also bring in Andrea Kimi Antonelli and fit his car with the white-banded Hard tyres.
However, around ten laps later, with heavy rain hitting the Silverstone Circuit, both Mercedes drivers returned to the pits to switch back to Intermediate tyres amid a sequence of Virtual Safety Car periods. After racing resumed, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was hit from behind by the Racing Bulls car of French rookie Isack Hadjar.
Track conditions at that stage were extremely treacherous. Visibility was minimal, and drivers struggled to see either the track surface or other cars in front of them until they were dangerously close. Due to the spray thrown up by the cars ahead, Isack Hadjar was unable to spot the No. 12 Mercedes and collided with it, before sliding off into the barriers.
Initially, the damage to Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car did not appear to be critical. After a pit stop and tyre change, the Italian was sent back out on track. However, within a few laps, the team was forced to call him back into the garage as the damage to the diffuser proved too serious to continue the race.
Reflecting on his difficult Sunday at Silverstone, Andrea Kimi Antonelli returned home once again without scoring any points in the championship.
The Mercedes driver explained: “It was a tough day. I wasn’t sure whether stopping for Hard tyres early on was the right call, but we made that decision as a team.”
“Unfortunately, just after that, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed and I wasn’t able to get the tyres up to temperature,” added the 18-year-old rookie. “Once the race resumed, I struggled to generate the heat needed in the tyres, and that prevented me from capitalizing on what could have been a strong pace as the track started to dry.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli also discussed the dangerous conditions the drivers faced when the rain intensified around the halfway point of the race.
“With the arrival of heavy rain, conditions became extremely tricky,” he said. “Even after the Safety Car period ended, visibility was still very poor and there was a lot of standing water on the track. That’s what caught Hadjar out—it was really unfortunate for both of us.”
“I tried to carry on, but the damage to the diffuser was too severe and we had no choice but to retire. It was definitely a weekend to forget, but we’ll aim to come back stronger at Spa,” concluded the Mercedes driver.
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